Jake Bugg

Jake Bugg, born February 28, 1994, is an English singer-songwriter from Nottingham. Despite being only 20-years-old, Bugg has already released two hugely successful studio albums and has been compared to other iconic singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Donovan and Johnny Cash.

Bugg began playing the guitar as a 12-year-old and, after dropping out of a music technology course at the age of 16, started to write and perform his own songs inspired by his experiences growing up on the Clifton council estate. He first gained widespread recognition when he was chosen to perform on the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury in 2011 and signed a record deal with Mercury shortly afterwards.

His debut album, ‘Jake Bugg’, was released in October 2012 and reached Number One on the UK Albums Chart. The LP was declared a triumph by NME, who claimed it was “rife with uncommon wit, insight and melody”. Bugg later claimed that his commercial success was a victory for guitar music over manufactured pop and reality TV shows, stating: “I guess it proves my point – people still want to hear guitar music. It’s my job to keep that X Factor shit off the top of the charts.” To date, ‘Jake Bugg’ has sold over 600,000 copies in the UK and its success garnered Bugg a nomination for Best British Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards 2013.

Bugg then teamed up with renowned producer Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash) for his second album, ‘Shangria La’, which was released in Novemebr 2013 and featured contributions from Rubin, Iain Archer, Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Chad Smith and Elvis Costello’s Pete Thomas. The LP was a Number Three hit in the UK.

Bugg has since revealed that he has started work on a new studio album, although it is not yet known when the record will be released or whether he will work with Rubin again.